The Skills Taskforce has called for a jobs, education and training website to be set up to help tackle skills shortages. It also wants a new focus on the vocational route via apprenticeships and a new drive to improve mathematics and IT skills.

NHS participation in a consortium of industrial, academic and clinical partners across Europe will bring relief to asthma suffers. MEDICATE (Medical Diagnosis, Communication and Analysis Throughout Europe) uses technology that allows asthma sufferers to use a portable monitoring device to record their breathing patterns from the comfort of their own home. Data is then sent by e-mail to a central point where it is processed and recommendations forwarded direct to their consultant.

For all public sector managers this book provides: a clear understanding of the key concepts of TQM; a critical understanding of their relevance to the public sector; empirical evidence of TQM application in government, health and education; and exploration of the public sector TQM possibilities yet to be realised. It draws throughout on case examples from Britain, Canada, the USA and continental Europe which illustrate the application of TQM to the public sector.